Monday, April 2, 2012

RIM, Weather, Travel League, Dinner, Roman Coins,

RIM who make the Blackberry are just up the road from us and I personally am proud to have such a famous Canadian electronic company in my back yard. However, they have been going through lots of financial troubles lately and now the government are saying they wouldn’t object to a sale to an foreign company. In my opinion that would be a shame. We should all be just as proud to have RIM in Canada. Maybe with the restructuring they are doing they will be able to pull themselves out of the doldrums. The iPhone is their big competitor of course. Never having owned either, I don’t know the pros and cons.

March went out like a lion in some areas but here it just whimpered a bit. We got some snow, but not really enough to write home about. Of course it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility to get a major snow storm in April.

At our travel league the other day, a friend was taking photos off and on during the occasion and posted them on Facebook. A couple of me horrified me, I am sure I am not really that fat. I looked huge. I hope its just the pix, because when I looked in the mirror I didn’t think I was as bad as in the photos. Yes, I know I need to lose weight, but those pictures made me look like some of these really huge people one sees on TV and I know I’m not that big. This is a picture of the whole group although we were short quite a few people for one reason or another. As I am half hidden I don’t look so bad in this picture. Should have let Matt stand in front of me.

Our local grocery store, Zehrs, had standing rib roasts on sale this week so on Saturday Matt went and bought a couple – one for the freezer and one to eat on Saturday. We really enjoy a roast of beef for a change now and then and when the beef is on for $3.99/lb we can’t resist them. We buy the Yorkshire puds as I mentioned before, they are excellent and can be popped into a hot oven for 4 minutes just when we are ready to eat. Saves a lot of messing around. My mother always said my Yorkshire Pudding was lousy, I liked it, but there you are. The roast was delicious with plenty left over for Sunday and Monday.

We also now have two little Lindt Bunnies sitting together, one dark chocolate and one milk, waiting for Easter to be devoured. I know dark chocolate is supposed to better for you, but I really prefer milk. I could eat one of these bunnies a day of course, but I won’t get the chance unfortunately. As you know the title of this blog contains “A Scent of Chocolate”; I ought to write a blog all about chocolate although not being a chocolatier I guess I would run out of things to say. I always salivate when I see pictures on TV of molten chocolate being tempered. It takes a lot of study to be a chocolatier – making Lindt bunnies is the least of it. In fact I assume they would be poured into a mould. I’ve seen glass being made, never seen chocolate being made. Having written this I remembered there is a chocolate house in Cambridge, not far from here, called Reid’s. I wrote and asked them if they do tours.

I was interested in an article posted on Facebook about a hoard of 30,000 Roman silver coins unearthed near Bath in England. It was one of the biggest finds of such coins, but is, apparently welded into one lump which makes their identification difficult. The coins were dug up near the Roman Baths and Pump Room in Bath and are being evaluated by the British Museum. Once evaluated the Roman Baths and Pump Room want to buy them back to keep on display there. One speculates as to how 39,000 silver coins got to be buried like that. Was someone hoarding money do you suppose? In these days of banks, it seems odd to us. When reading this I discovered a link to the finding of a Roman brothel token on the banks of the River Thames. If you click on the link you can see the coin which depicts a man and woman in an intimate act. I didn’t know there were such things, they figure they were used by Roman soldiers to pay for sex in a brothel. I couldn’t copy the picture unfortunately.

In a large bowl or measuring cup whisk eggs, milk, Parmesan cheese, sage and pepper together until well mixed, set aside. Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC).

In a 10”(25 cm) non-stick skillet heat oil over medium-high heat; sauté onion and red pepper 2-3 minutes or until softened. Add mushrooms and sauté 4-5 minutes or until lightly browned; add garlic and cook 1 minute. Pour egg mixture into skillet mixing lightly to incorporate mushrooms; sprinkle with parsley if desired. Bake in oven about 12-15 minutes or until just set in the centre and no longer moist on top. Sprinkle with cheese and return to over for 2 minutes to melt cheese. Loosen around the edges with a rubber spatula and slide out onto serving plate. Cut in wedges to serve. Serve hot or at room temperature. Makes 4 servings

Variation:

Instead of cooking the frittata in oven it may be cooked on top of stove over medium-low heat; lifting outer edges of omelet to allow uncooked portion to run underneath, then cover and cook until just set. Turn off heat. Sprinkle with cheese and cover to melt cheese.

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About Me

Happily married for 45 years, originally from the UK, living in Canada now. Interested in cooking, reading and wildlife conservation. Read more at http://satimaflavell.blogspot.ca/2009/02/fresh-fields-reading-and-recipes.html